Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot, who resigned from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war Cabinet after accusing him of lacking a clear strategy in Gaza, has formally launched his election campaign, emerging as one of the Israeli premier’s most prominent challengers ahead of elections scheduled for the fall.
Eisenkot’s centrist party, Yashar(straight), officially launched its campaign on Tuesday, with the former general calling for national unity and renewal after nearly three years of war and political division.
“This time it’s on us,” Eisenkot said at the launch event. “Will we turn a blind eye to the disaster that has befallen us? Will we accept the continued division and rush to the next disaster? Or will we heal and rebuild?”
Eisenkot has broadly supported Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran but has repeatedly criticised Netanyahu’s handling of the war that followed the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023.
He has argued that the government lacked a coherent long-term strategy.
Netanyahu has dismissed those claims, saying that had he followed Eisenkot’s advice on certain operations in Gaza, “all of Hamas” would still control the territory.
Political analysts say Eisenkot presents a sharp contrast to Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.
“He’s not polarising, he’s not a populist like Netanyahu, and he will try to unify the country,” Gideon Rahat, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, told AP.
The 66-year-old son of Jewish Moroccan immigrants spent four decades in Israel’s military before entering politics.
His public profile was further strengthened after his 25-year-old son, Gal Meir Eisenkot, and two nephews were killed during the Gaza war.
His campaign platform includes strengthening Israel’s national security through regional cooperation, rebuilding communities in northern and southern Israel, investing in education and healthcare, and establishing a state commission of inquiry into the failures surrounding the 7 October attack.
He has also pledged to introduce mandatory military service for Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community under the slogan “Service for All.”
Eisenkot resigned from Netanyahu’s war Cabinet in 2024, saying the government was mistaking limited battlefield gains for a strategy capable of defeating Hamas and improving Israel’s long-term security.
However, he has not opposed Israel’s military campaign in Gaza over the scale of destruction or civilian casualties.
He is also associated with the Dahiyeh Doctrine, a military strategy advocating overwhelming force against areas used by militant groups.
Despite growing public dissatisfaction with Netanyahu, analysts say defeating him will be difficult in Israel’s fragmented parliamentary system.
Even if Eisenkot’s party wins more seats than Netanyahu’s Likud Party, he would still need to assemble a coalition capable of securing a parliamentary majority. His refusal to compromise on compulsory military service for ultra-
Orthodox Israelis could complicate coalition negotiations, while any effort to seek support from Arab-led parties would likely face fierce political attacks from Netanyahu and his allies.
